


Who Ever Heard of Glass Coffins

by AncalagonDrakka



Series: Glass Coffins [1]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: I fixed it, Kraglin knows what's up, M/M, Magical Kisses, Temporary Character Death, Yondu Udonta Lives, the Guardians are confused
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-17
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-11-15 09:32:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11228199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AncalagonDrakka/pseuds/AncalagonDrakka
Summary: Peter does his best to be a tearful fairy tale prince in response to Yondu's attempt at self-sacrifice. It goes about how one might expect it to.





	Who Ever Heard of Glass Coffins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moony143](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moony143/gifts).



> This is dedicated to the wonderful moony143, who inspired me to write after I read their amazing fanfictions. I fully support the effort to increase the number of Quilldu fics on this site.

Space was cold. The gaps between the stars were almost unbearably dark. Peter knew this, firsthand even, from when he’d saved Gamora a few months ago. Even after he’d been dragged onto the Ecclector, it felt like he would never be warm again. It was so much worse this time, because there was absolutely nothing he could do. He might have had the protection from the medallion pinned to his coat, but Peter was sure he could feel the ice burning his hands where he clutched frantically at Yondu. Peter didn’t spare a thought for the stars around him or the destroyed planet beneath him, not when he had to watch the light leave Yondu’s eyes.

It took a small eternity for the ship to reach him, likely due to the beating it took on Ego’s planet. As soon as he felt the solid metal of the holding bay and heard the air lock shut, Peter managed to deactivate the medal. As soon as it was off, he flung it across the room. He didn’t care where it landed.

“Yondu!” Peter gripped the captain’s shoulders, shaking him in an effort to rouse him.

“Yondu, c’mon! You gotta get up! Please!”

It didn’t seem to work. Yondu was stiff and cold and still. Peter’s vision began to blur and he distantly realized that he was beginning to cry. Small circles of frost melted as tears fell onto Yondu’s face. Peter felt so small like this. He let go of Yondu’s shoulders in favor of holding onto his coat, laying half on top of the captain. He was so cold, but Peter didn’t care. He just held onto Yondu as tight as he could, pressing his face into the crook of Yondu’s shoulder.

Peter barely noticed when the other Guardians rushed into the holding bay. For a long time, nobody moved. And then tiny footsteps were the only other sound besides Peter’s choked sobs and the hum of the engine. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Groot, still wearing the miniature Ravager clothes, come up to Yondu’s other side. Groot made a small sound and reached out to tug at the corner of Yondu’s coat collar.

“I am Groot?” Groot tugged at Yondu’s collar again, and Peter realized that Groot was trying to make Yondu wake up, too.

He wasn’t sure if Groot really knew what had happened, and to be honest, Peter didn’t really know what had happened either. They blew up a sentient god planet and then Peter was rocketing into space. And Yondu wasn’t waking up. He couldn’t be gone, though. He was Yondu. And Yondu was always loud, expressive. He always had a wicked gleam in his eyes. This wasn’t right. Yondu couldn’t be gone. He flinched when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Peter.” Peter raised his head to see the blurry image of Gamora behind him.

“Peter,” she said again quietly, “he’s gone.”

Gamora squeezed his shoulder and took his arm like she was trying to pull him to his feet. Oh. She was trying to pull him to his feet.

“No! No, please!” Peter tensed up, ducking his head to lean his weight away from Gamora. He knew she was probably just trying to help, but he couldn’t get up. Not yet.

“I can’t leave him.” They would take Yondu away if he got up like Gamora wanted.

Mind reeling, Peter was caught by a sudden memory from when his mom was in the hospital.

_Peter fiddled absently with his Walkman, headphones around his neck while his eyes were glued to the screen. He was pressed up against his mom in the bed, keeping her company on an unusually dreary Saturday. The nurses had wheeled in a small T.V. set and a VHS player like they did every time Peter came to visit on the weekends. There was a small stack of Disney movies on the table next to the bed so Peter and his mom could watch them together._  
_Snow White was the one they were currently watching. It was one of his mom’s favorite movies, and even if there were different movies every time Peter was there, Snow White was always at the top of the stack._

_“Mama, how come Snow White comes back to life? Didn’t the Evil Queen make her eat a bad apple?” Peter turned his head away from the screen to look at his mother._  
_“Because love is magic, baby. She and her prince were so in love that she just had to come back.” She told him, pressing a kiss to his forehead and running a hand through his hair. “Love is a powerful thing. I want you to remember that.”_

_Peter nodded slowly as he turned his attention back to the screen where the seven dwarves were standing around Snow White’s glass coffin. Maybe if he loved her hard enough, his mom would get better, just like the princess._

Maybe his love for his mother hadn’t been enough to undo the damage of the tumor Ego put in her head. Maybe love only worked in fairy tales. But Peter grasped at that memory and held on tight. Ignoring Gamora’s attempts to pull him up, Peter cradled Yondu’s face in his trembling hands, like the way Yondu held his face while space stole the life out of him. Maybe Peter could scrounge up the last of the celestial’s magic while Ego shuddered through his final death throes.

“Please work.” Peter said as he closed his eyes and leaned in just a little more.

Yondu’s lips were cold. They were wet, too, from both the melting ice and from Peter crying all over them both. He must have shocked Gamora, because she let go of him pretty quickly after that.

It was different, too, because this kiss was so much more gentle than usual. This kiss was slow—cautious and purposeful, really, like how the prince had kissed Snow White in the movie. It wasn’t alive and active like their kisses were supposed to be. It was like kissing a statue. Peter wasn’t sure how long the kiss lasted. He felt ten times more exhausted when he pulled away, because it hadn’t worked. Yondu was gone. Really gone.

A fresh wave of tears started. Slowly, he sat back and held up a hand. Gamora took it and helped Peter to his feet, keeping a firm grip until he was standing straight, like she thought he would keel over otherwise. He glanced around the room to see the others. Groot was still next to Yondu, but he seemed to realize that Yondu wasn’t coming back, too. He slowly backed away and stumbled back to Rocket with what sounded like a whimper. Rocket was close to the door, looking more despondent than Peter ever remembered seeing him before. Drax and Nebula were both stony faced. Nebula seemed to be doing her best to avoid looking at anyone. Gamora was trying to look stoic, too. Peter didn’t think she was doing that very well. Probably still shocked at the kiss. He couldn’t see Mantis, but she was probably still knocked out. And Kraglin… Kraglin looked about as wrecked as Peter felt. They’d both spent years with Yondu, through good and bad. He knew Kraglin felt the loss just as deeply as he did, knew he would probably spend a lot of time mourning alongside the other Ravager.

Peter swiped his sleeve roughly over his face to clear away some of his tears. He wasn’t okay. Probably wouldn’t be for a long time. But he still had a family, and they would help each other, help him, through the loss. He took a shaky breath and looked back to Kraglin, getting the barest hint of a nod from the other Ravager.  
Peter was about to try to speak when a sharp cough and a flash of red interrupted him. He swore he nearly died of a heart attack when he saw Yondu jerk awake with a gasp and round of harsh coughing. The new implant was flashing brightly as Yondu struggled to breathe properly.

“Yondu!” Peter was back on the ground in the blink of an eye to help Yondu sit up.

“Jesus Christ, old man! You can’t do shit like that!” Just like that, the mood went from solemn to chaotic. Someone ran out of the holding bay, shouting something about setting up a medical bed. Another person, he assumed Kraglin, was off to plot a course for a safe outpost to go to. Drax had started laughing. It was deafening.  
Peter grinned through his tears, holding Yondu against his chest as his coughing subsided. Yondu lifted a hand to run along Peter’s face.

“Y’look like shit, Quill…” He rasped. He dropped his hand and turned his head to rest against Peter’s shoulder. He passed out before Peter could say anything else.  
They were okay now. Everything would be fine. Once the energy died down again, they managed to get Yondu set up in a bed with a monitor to keep an eye on him. Peter somehow managed to crawl into the bed, too. There would be no separating them for a while.

Kraglin was leaning against the door, watching the pair with a fond smile. He glanced away for a moment when Gamora came up to stand next to him. She tilted her head at the sight of Peter wrapped around Yondu like a limpet. It was pretty obvious that she didn’t quite get how their relationship worked, but Kraglin figured Peter would explain once the worst of this blew over.

“I contacted Stakar.” He told her. “He should be on his way soon and can get an actual doctor to look at these idiots.” And the rest of them, for that matter. He figured she should be updated on what was going on. She seemed like she would know what she was doing. Kraglin guessed that she was probably Peter’s second in command in their ragtag group. She nodded, doing one last once over of the room. Peter and Yondu were safe enough in their corner of the room. Mantis was resting on the other side of the room, head wrapped in bandages. Once she decided none of them were in immediate danger, she stepped back.

“You could stay with ‘em if you want to. They ain’t going nowhere.” There wouldn’t be much to do until Stakar got here, anyway. Kraglin was planning to keep watch, even if Gamora didn’t feel comfortable sitting around. She hesitated, glancing back into the hallway as if someone would come running with something that demanded her attention.

“I will stay.” Gamora said after a moment of deliberation. “They might need me.”

Kraglin shot her a quick smile and pushed off of the doorway to get them a pair of chairs. They sat in companionable silence for a few hours, just content to watch over their family. Kraglin stayed until Rocket came in and told him that Stakar had arrived.

“What a pair of jackasses.” Rocket muttered, sparing a quick glance over at Peter and Yondu. Kraglin chuckled and quietly agreed that yeah, they were indeed a pair of jackasses.

Stakar came and went, making sure they had as many supplies—medical or otherwise—as their smaller ship could hold. He spared a smile for Peter and Yondu. He left instructions for Kraglin to call him again once Yondu was up and could take calls. He told Kraglin that Yondu was pardoned and had been reinstated as a true Ravager. Stakar couldn’t stay for long, but he stayed long enough to make sure that they would all be alright.

And they would. Be alright, that is. Mantis was able to leave soon after Stakar left. Peter, who had recovered faster than Yondu, was entertaining himself by telling the Ravager captain the story of Snow White in as many ways as he knew while he waited for Yondu to wake up and stay awake for more than a few minutes at a time. There were apparently a lot of Snow White stories.

“Who ever heard of glass coffins?” Yondu said when he was actually awake to hear the story in full. Peter huffed and gave Yondu’s shoulder a gentle nudge.

“Shut up old man. I know you like the story. Admit it.” They seemed happy enough to bicker about the merits of fairy tales for a while.

The other Guardians came in and out fairly frequently. Rocket had even stayed for a while to present Yondu with his Yaka arrow, now restored and perhaps even upgraded. At one point, Kraglin heard a lot of yelling before very confused looking Drax stepping out into the hallway, muttering something about unusual parent-child relationships. Kraglin blinked and decided it was better not to ask. He had a goal, anyway. Wouldn’t be good to get distracted.

He knocked on the doorway to announce his presence. The disgruntled looking pair turned to stare at Kraglin. Well. Yondu looked more like he was glaring. Petere just looked like a ruffled bird.

“Just here to drop something off for you, Captain. Won’t be staying long today.” Kraglin made his way over to the bed. “And to tell you that you should be good to leave the med bay tomorrow, ‘ccording to Gamora.”

He set the box down on the bedside table and took a step back. Yondu looked at the box, then to Kraglin. He’d managed to rescue that little thing before they’d lost the Ecclector. Recognition sparked in Yondu’s eyes. He nodded to Kraglin, the beginnings of a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth. Kraglin returned the nod and began to head for the door.

“Oh, and Peter?” Kraglin paused in the doorway, turning to make sure he had the kid’s attention. “Don’t break the Captain, huh?” And with that, Kraglin beat a hasty retreat. As much as he loved Peter and Yondu, he didn’t want to be around for the ridiculous amount of making out he knew was about to happen.

Peter frowned as he watched Kraglin retreat. He had no idea what that was supposed to mean. But he didn’t think on it too long as he watched Yondu take the box from the table and hold it out to him.

“Meant to give this to you sooner, but… Here.” Yondu waited until Peter took the box. “It’s Terran. Figured you’d want it now after what that jackass did to the music box your mama gave you.”

Hesitantly, Peter took the box. He paused for a moment to glance back up at Yondu before lifting the lid. Inside was an electronic device that would fit easily in his hand. It had ZUNE across the front under a little screen. There were a pair of ear buds wrapped around it and a charger coiled under it.

“Has enough space for three hundred songs.” Yondu told him. Peter gaped. Three hundred songs!? All he could do for a minute was whip his head back and forth between the Zune and Yondu’s increasingly pleased face. Now he knew what Kraglin meant. Slowly, Peter put the Zune aside and turned back to the Ravager captain. There was a second where they just stared at each other. Then Peter grabbed Yondu by the shoulders and slammed their lips together.

This was the kind of kiss he was used to. Rough and hot with hands scrabbling for any purchase they could get. He moaned when Yondu’s teeth caught his bottom lip, and again when a long blue tongue darted out to soothe the sting. The kiss deepened quickly, and Peter let himself be pushed back against the pillows, uncaring that they were gradually sliding down the bed. Yondu was a familiar and comforting weight on top of him. He had the vague hope that nobody walked in on them like this, since trying to talk to Drax when he’d walked in on Peter giving Yondu a quick peck had been frustrating enough.

And then Yondu ran a rough hand over Peter’s cheek and into his hair and Peter decided not to care about anything else for a while. There was one last swipe of Yondu’s tongue before they broke the kiss.

“God, I missed this.” _and I missed you_ went unsaid and Peter grinned as the two of them shifted to sit up comfortably again. Tomorrow Yondu wouldn’t have to be under strict medical watch anymore and they could have a room to themselves. Peter thought that would be wonderful.

“I hope you and Kraglin will stay. We could always do with some more Guardians of the Galaxy.” It was a little bit of a long shot to ask them to stay. Yondu liked doing things his own way, and he might not feel like he would fit well with the rest of them. Peter could hope. He put all of that hope into the look he was giving Yondu. The Ravager captain claimed he was unaffected by puppy eyes, but Peter knew how effective they really were.

“It ain’t like I got a whole lot of other places to go.” Yondu sighed and tilted Peter’s chin up with a finger. “And somebody’s gotta look out for your reckless ass.” That, coming from Yondu, basically meant he planned to stick around. They weren’t always going to get along, but most of the Guardians argued pretty frequently already.  
Peter pressed close to Yondu, smiling at the arm thrown casually over his waist. He gave Yondu one last peck on the cheek before he closed his eyes to get some sleep. He was going to need it after Yondu was allowed out of the med bay tomorrow. They were going to be busy.

Maybe Peter loved Yondu enough to fix the shitty situation Ego put them into. Maybe his life was a goddamn fairy tale. Either way, he was surrounded by his family and he figured that wasn’t a bad way to live.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this! it was pretty fun to write. I was actually a little surprised when I went back to reread this and saw how much I made Quill cry. Poor baby. I will likely write more and make this into a series. I would love to write about Drax being confused, since he canonically thought Yondu was Quill's biological dad. Also a sex scene would be fun to try my hand at later. Anyway, Kudos bring me joy and Reviews make my day.


End file.
